Gas anchor



July l0, 1951 J. M. couRTNEY GAS ANCHOR Filed June 2, 1947 ,ou M@ f. f4 w INVENTOR. 'Bi/Wwf uw- TTR/VEY Patented July 10, 1951 UNITED-STATES .PATENT `oFF-ici;

v GAS ANCHOR John M. CourtneyAtlanta, Tex. Application June 2, 194'?, Serial No. 751,901

2 claims. (o1. Y10s-220) This` inventionrelatestq,an improved gas anchorgrior use `in oil well pumping-mechanism and represents4 anl improvement over the gas `anchor disclosed and claimed in -U. S. Letters v- .Patent 2,291,373 granted temeon July 28, 1942.

Adgas .anchoris avstruoture alixedtothe tubsand, `and thus vrecxluceswear on thepurnp parts .that would otherwise be caused by` such solid material.

l The gasanchorV of the present 4invention has theravantage y0f allowing. the readyescape vof separatedpgas independent of the rate of oil inflow through the slots provided for such flow in the outer tnbinggofthe.anchor.- This is particularly beneficial wherfs Vis frequently the vease, portion ofthelslots' becomefpulgged with sediment. Additionally thefg'as anchor of Athe invention.istlheealisenofiits..specialconstruction,

readilyremovable from thetubing string sothat `accessmay be had to it and. associated punir parts for repairs and so that 1the equipment Amai L be readily` salvaged in case of abandonment of 4the well `on which such ,equipment is installed.

'My invention maybe best understood by reference to the accompanying drawing in which Figure l is a vertical' view, partly in plan anc. partly in section, illustrating the preferred embodiment of the device of this invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical section of the bottom head of the gas anchor showing in detail the construction of the ports for the flow of oil from the gas-oil separation chamber to the inlet of the tubing string;

Figure 3 is a horizontalview taken along line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a vertical end view, shown in section, of one of the two hemicylindrical members which form the top head of the gas anchor; and

Figure 5 is a horizontal view taken along line 5-5 of Figure 4, showing both hemicylindrical members in their assembled position.

Referring to the drawings, ID represents a conventional section of tubing provided with the threaded upset end l2. At the lower end of the tubing, the seating coupling I4 is threaded on to the end I2, and serves as a seat for the hold-down shoe l5 to which is attached the hollow plunger I6 provided with standing valve I8 at its upper end. The traveling tube 20,

. provided with the traveling or discharge valve `22, is reciprocated over the plunger or liner l5 by a` sucker rod 2d, causing the oil to flow outwardly into the tubing whence it ows upwardly to be discharged at the surface.

To the bottom end of seating coupling I4 is `rthreaded the bottom head S, shown in detail in Figures 2 and3, of the gas'anchor. The

bottom head of the gas anchor is internally and externally threaded at its upper end, for attachment to the seating coupling and for connection to the pipe barrel or` tubing 32 of the gas anchor.

, rlhe internal diameter of barrel 32 is larger than the'tubingv orthe seatingcoupling and the an- 1 nular spaceV 315 therebetween serves as the sepllar'ation. zone for the gas and oil. The lower end of the head 30 is internally threaded for `the 4receiptof sand trap 36. Oil ports 38 provide communication through the upper end of the head;A 30 between separation zone 34 and oil chamber' 48. From chamber 40, oil ows upwardly into the stationary plunger IS to the standing. valve of the pump while sand or other solid sediment settles out into the sand trap.

The oil Aports 38 are internally threaded and fmone nor more of the ports may be shut off if de- "s'ired 'by the insertion of suitable externally The side wall of 4i for the inowof fluid from the producing formation.

The upper end of the barrel 32 of the gas anchor is connected to and held properly spaced from the tubing l by the top head 42. This head, shown in detail in Figures 4 and 5 has the general configuration of a hollow cylinder whose internal diameter corresponds to the outer diameter of the tubing. The head d2 is split to form two hemicylindrical members lil and 4S. The composite member l2 is exteriorly threaded at its lower end to fit the corresponding interiorly threaded upper end of barrel 32. Matched holes 48 are drilled into the meeting faces of each hemicylindrical member for the reception of dowel pins 50 so that the threads of each portion will be properly aligned for asn sembly. A plurality of grooves 52 are cut lengthwise in the internal wall of the head 42 to serve to permit the escape of gas from the separation chamber 34.

In operation the formation fluids ow through slots il into the barrel of the gas anchor. In zone 34 the free gas largely separates from the oil and escapes partly through the upper slots M and the remainder through grooves 52 in the upper gas anchor head. Should the rate of fluid inflow be suicient to utilize all of the free space in slots 4l, the separated gas may all escape through the 'grooves 52. The oil and any solid sediment ilows down through ports 38 into chamber 40, where the sediment largely falls out into sand trap 36. The oil then passes into the pump for passage to the surface in the usual manner.

When it is desired to remove the gas anchor the upper head 42 may be unscrewed from the barrel, split apart and removed from the tubing. The bottom head 30 may then be -unscrewed from the seating coupling and the tubing and pump pulled out of the anchor.

It is to be understood that numerous modifications of the design illustrated may be made within the skill of those familiar with'the art without departing from the spirit of this invention. The gas anchor is not limited in its application to any particular type of subsurface pumping equipment. The actual dimensions of the various parts, slots, grooves and ports for the passage of the fluids is dependent upon the partic-ular pumping-job and readily detcrminable by those skilled in the art.

I claim:

l. In a gas separator assembly, a pump tube, a reciprocating pump disposed substantially at the lower end thereof, a settling chamber disposed below said pump tube and in unrestricted communication therewith, a cylindrical surge charn- Aber havinga threaded upper end surrounding said pump tube, a series of vertically elongated openings in the outer wall of said surge chamber for the admission of oil and the escape of gas, said the pump tubing, each of said hemicyclindrical members being threaded at one end, matched openings in each of said hemicyclindrical mem- V bers for the reception of pins to hold the threads of the hemicyclindrical members in alignment so that the cap may be fitted about the pump tubing and threaded to the threaded end of the surge chamber, whereby the upper end of the surge chamber is held in longitudinal alignment with the pump tubing, and at least one passageway through said cap for the escape of gas from the annular space between the tubing and the barrel. 2. In a gas separator assembly, a pump tube, a reciprocating pump disposed substantially at the lower end thereof, a settling chamber disposed below said pump tube and in unrestricted communication therewith, a cylindrical surge chamber having a threaded upper end surrounding said pump tube, a series of vertically elongated openings in the outer wall of the said surge chamber for the admission of oil and the escape of gas, said openings being positioned sufficiently below the top of said surge chamber so that a quantity of gas will be trapped in the chamber above the openings to make the chamber function as a surge chamber, v means establishing restricted communication between the bottom of said surge chamber and said settling chamber', the improvement thatcomprises a tubular cylindrical cap for the open end of said surge chamber having an internal diameter slightly larger than the external diameter of the pump tubing and provided with threads at one end adapted to t the threads on the upper end of the surge chamber whereby the surge chamber may be held in longitudinal alignment with the tubing with an axial space therebetween, said cap comprising a plurality of laterally separable segments, means for holding said separable segments in longitudinal alignment, and at least one passage through said cap for the escape of gas from the annular space between the pump tubing and the surge chamber. JOHN M. COURTNEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent: Y

UNITED STATES PATENTS v Number Name Date 458,453 Goodrich Aug. 25, 1891 2,104,339 Arutonoff Jan. 4, 1938 2,291,378V Courtney July 28, 1942 2,431,154 Wilkstrom Nov. 18, 1947 

